Chapter 925: Chapter 798: Mr. Zhang’s Thoughts

The Yi family is raising a toast, and the Zhou family is not missing out either.

As Zhou Jiao entered from the big courtyard to the entrance of the house, she was curious as to why her husband didn’t meet her at the door. Even the arrival of Miao Zhicheng shouldn’t have slowed him down.

"Dang dang... welcome our heroine home." Zhang Guoqing jumped out from the doorway, "Son, you may throw the flowers now."

Shredded colored paper was sprinkled onto the entering Zhou Jiao by this mischievous father-son duo, making the onlooking family burst into laughter.

"Mom, are you happy?"

Zhou Jiao bent down to pick up her child, accepting the small bamboo basket in his hand, "Thank you, my dear son, this is so grand."

"I originally wanted to set off firecrackers, what a pity..."

With a smile on his face, Zhou Xiaozheng gestured them to come over, "Let’s have dinner first."

"Mom, Grandma Chen cooked a lot of dishes you like today. She said you are so brave, even daring to capture spies, and wants to nourish your little heart."

Listening to her son’s chatter, Zhou Jiao nodded repeatedly. She looked ahead at Miao Zhicheng and said with a smile, "Brother Zhicheng, sorry I couldn’t pick you up at the station."

"Why would someone as big as me need picking up." Miao Zhicheng laughed, "Congratulations, cousin, just be careful in the future."

"Alright, thank you, Brother Zhicheng."

Zhou Jiao handed the items to her father, washed her hands, and headed straight to check on the twins.

"Is Da Yi overjoyed?"

"I just told him earlier, he’ll come to see you tomorrow."

Zhang Guoqing nodded, "A while ago, he almost couldn’t hold it in. I reckon he’ll speak up before the school starts." As he said this, he pointed at May 1st, "Look at our youngest."

The child is perfectly fine! Fair and chubby, with dark eyes indicating cleverness at a glance. Zhou Jiao looked at him puzzled.

"We see him every day so we don’t notice. But today Zhicheng came over and exclaimed, how come he looks so much like his cousin? Look, doesn’t he? As he’s growing day by day, he increasingly resembles you."

Zhou Jiao looked back and forth between the two white bun-like kids and still couldn’t tell. Chubby as they were, where did they look like her? Their smiling dimples were an inherited trait, though.

At the dining table, Zhou Jiao listened as everyone chatted, occasionally glancing at her father. The thought of her three sons inheriting their grandfather’s childhood issues amused her secretly.

"Xiao Wu, in the afternoon, take pictures of these certificates and medals. Develop a few copies and send them to your mom and godmother so they can share in the joy."

Zhang Guoqing indeed planned to do so, and hearing his mother-in-law’s suggestion, he nodded cheerfully.

Beside them, Miao Zhicheng remarked, "A few years ago, someone in our commune got a second-class merit in the military, and many people went to celebrate with great fanfare. It’s a pity this time it’s in the city."

Everyone knew what the honest man meant by pity, and they laughed heartily. Who really cared about such formalities?

But as it turned out, Miao Zhicheng’s conjecture was half-right.

In a Northeast County, early in the morning after finishing tai chi, Mr. Zhang chatted a bit with some old friends before leisurely heading home together with an old neighbor from the front courtyard.

Upon entering the house, he saw his wife looking up at the sky, and curiously did the same, "What’s up, kids’ mother, what are you doing?"

"What do you think our Xiao Wu is doing now? The school year’s started, and I wonder how he’s eating at school? I also wonder how the twins are doing? Can we trust others to take good care of them?"

"Sigh, I even dreamt this morning of Jiao Jiao calling out for her mom. Do you think they can manage? Brother Zhou and his wife are only home in the evenings; can they even take care of the kids? And what about our Ping’an?"

Mr. Zhang was troubled by his wife’s words. Several days into the school year, how could one not worry about the kids? He knew a bit more than his wife. Brother Zhou and his wife weren’t just out all day long, sometimes they unexpectedly had to go on business trips, leaving them truly unable to attend to the kids.

He hesitantly suggested, "How about I watch over the house, and you head to Beijing tomorrow?"

Mother Zhang gave him a look, "The second family is expecting, how can I leave? Winter’s coming up, and we have to prepare more supplies for the winter. Our Xiao Wu and Ping’an love dried green beans, so I have to dry more of them. We need to dry more preserved vegetables and mushrooms to send over as well. Kids’ dad, can you manage to get some pork from whoever’s holding a celebration?"

Mr. Zhang looked at his wife amusedly. He thought that after all she’d said, she was about to plan a trip. Now she’s shifted the topic back to meat, rekindling his worries.

"Really not going?"

"Sigh, can’t go. Our Xiao Wu should be able to manage, right?" Mother Zhang wasn’t entirely sure either, "There’s Master Jiao Jiao’s family, Aunt, and Old Mrs. Cheng. It shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Looking at his wife’s worried expression, Mr. Zhang could only smile comfortingly, "Xiao Wu told me if they get too busy, they’ll send a telegram."

"Remember when you were so worried about the kids raising kids when we split the families? See, our Ping’an is thriving so well. Relax! When second family’s baby is born, I’ll go with you to see our grandson."

"It’s different; back then Jiao Jiao was at home." Mother Zhang said, waving her hand, "Forget it; let’s leave it for now. I’d like to go back to the village today; are you in?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Mr. Zhang said, then thought for a moment, "Did you tell the second family? We won’t be back quickly this time; several courtyards need some work."

"The second family told me to do whatever I like, noting their daughter-in-law wasn’t having her first child. I agreed, back then, we still had to work in the fields. Better to return to the village early to prepare some supplies."

Mr. Zhang nodded. After having corn porridge and three steamed corn flour buns with his wife, they prepared to head back to the village.

With Zhang Family Village doing considerably better these two years, the division led to numerous new courtyards of various sizes at the foot of North Mountain. When Mr. and Mrs. Zhang entered the village, the team was already working, and it was quiet with fewer people coming up to greet them.

Mother Zhang looked around and sighed, "It hasn’t even been thirty years, and there are so many more courtyards. We used to be able to see the road from our doorstep, but now..."

"It shows the place has good feng shui."

Chatting like this, the elder couple walked past the old courtyard without entering, went around Zhang the Second’s yard, stood at Zhang Guoqing’s small courtyard, unlocked the door, and went inside.

Since they frequently returned, the courtyard didn’t look desolate at all. Over the years, the grape arbor in the front courtyard grew into old vines, densely dotted with purple grapes.

The fruit trees transplanted by Zhang Guoqing in the back courtyard also grew strong, with bright red mountain fruits and red dates contrasting pleasantly against the verdant vegetables and beans below.

Every time Mr. Zhang entered, he felt his youngest son was destined to be lucky. Who would have guessed that what was once wasteland could yield such a bountiful harvest?

Didn’t you see that the fruit trees transplanted by Zhang the Second either died or barely bore a few fruits? If it’s about meticulous care, Mr. Zhang would blush on behalf of his youngest son.

"Still planning to sell?"

Mr. Zhang nodded. Even small pickings add up. He had inquired; saving up for several years could amass about three thousand yuan, enough to buy a small courtyard in Beijing for Ping’an.

He wasn’t worried about the twins. The five interconnected big courtyards and the hutong courtyard given by Old Mrs. Cheng were sure to be theirs in the future. But whether Ping’an could inherit the courtyard from his daughter-in-law’s side was uncertain.

There were some things he couldn’t clearly explain to his wife.

The continual messing around by his youngest son these years indicated the couple probably didn’t have much money. Otherwise, his youngest wouldn’t have accepted that 1,000 yuan.

The daughter-in-law was good, but she didn’t understand managing a household, keeping things too lax. Even if they started working next year, their combined salary would likely just cover expenses.

Brother Zhou said the three kids would be equally divided in the future, but who knows what might happen? He felt he still needed to focus on saving money for his grandson.

Mr. Zhang was surreptitiously calculating in his mind, something even his wife, Mother Zhang, didn’t know, let alone Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao, the couple.